1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions are directed to compressible packaging assemblies, for example, corrugated cardboard assemblies having compressible cushioning material enclosed therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of companies ship fully erected (“set up”) but empty shipping containers, which may include cushioning material, to customers or end users for returning equipment. For examples, some companies use this technique for facilitating the return of delicate components, such as cable boxes, laptop computers, cell phones, etc. The customer receives the empty box in the mail, inserts the device to return to the company then ships the box to the appropriate location.
While the service does provide convenience to the end user, there can be large costs associated with shipping an empty box. This is because shipping costs are not solely determined by weight. Rather, shipping companies often use a pricing technique known as “dimensional weight” costing. As an example, consider a box having the dimensions of 19″×16″×5.5″. Under a “dimensional weight” costing schedule, the above-noted box would be considered to encompass a volume of 1,672 cubic inches. The volume of the box is then divided by a constant, such as 194 cubic inches per pound, resulting in a “dimensional weight” of 8.62 pounds. This fictional weight of the box is then used for pricing the shipping cost based on the standard weight-dependent shipping cost schedules.